Visible
by justyoureverydaygirl
Summary: Rachel Berry is a star. She doesn't need anybody to tell her that, she knows all by herself. It doesn't help that the Cheerios are always telling her exactly how useless she is. So she decides, in her single-minded, determined fashion, that she would prove them wrong in the only way she knows how. She'll beat them at their own game. Rachel Berry will become a Cheerio. Not Faberry!
1. Chapter 1

Rachel Berry is a star. She doesn't need anybody to tell her that, she knows it all by herself. Of course, it doesn't help that the Cheerios are always telling her exactly how useless she is. So she decides, in her single-minded, determined fashion, that she would prove them wrong in the only way she knows how. She was going to beat them at their own game. Rachel Berry is going to become a Cheerio.

She had already asked her dads, and, walking down the hallway in her workout clothes-yoga pants and a shirt that Noah had lent her at Temple ages ago-she remembered their conversation with vivid clarity.

They had been…hesitant, to say the least. But once she had reminded them of her plethora of dance and gymnastics instrution, and they had relented.

"Hi Finn! Quinn!" She called out as she passed him, waving as she passed him. Even though he had gotten back together with Quinn after she had Beth, and even though she was standing right next to him, he stared at the brunette as she walked by in form-fitting clothes. Rachel noticed, but she wasn't the only one. Quinn saw his eyes drifting and smacked him smartly on the head.

Rachel giggled slightly and turned to watch where she was going again, only to be hit with a blue-raspberry slushee. It was like a cold, wet punch in the face.

She stood paralyzed for a minute eyes closed and mouth hanging open, before she remembered to wipe the iced drink out of her eyes. She turned around to see who had hit her this time, and one of the hockey boys winked at her before turning back to his friends and accepting congradulations. Rachel blinked tears out of her eyes, and looked around for the nearest bathroom.

She felt a hand on her arm, small and feminine, and assumed that Tina or Mercedes were helping her out. There was a tug, and she followed the hand into the girl's bathroom nearby, and felt the scratchiness of a dry paper towel on her face, removing the offending beverage.

After a minute or so, Rachel opened her eyes, and was thouroughly surprised to see Quinn helping her.

"Quinn?" Her voice was small; the real Rachel Berry had stepped out for a minute to breath after the humiliation, and the girl that was left didn't know what to do. Had it been Tina or Mercedes or Kurt, she could have just listened to their rant about the neandrethals that resided within the Mikinley High walls. She didn't know how to act around Quinn, so Rachel did something that many people thought that she was incapable of doing. She was silent.

Quinn dabbed at her face gently with a moistened towel one of the other Glee girls had brought in, and pulled out the chair that the custodians had decided served more use in the bathroom, helping the losers clean the messy drinks out of their hair than it did in a closet.

"Sit down, Rachel. Don't squirm too much, if you get slushee on my uniform Coach Sue will kill you. Literally. With her nails." Quinn said light-heartedly.

"Why are you helping me?" Rachel asked as she laid back, putting her head over the sink and sitting still.

"We're friends now. Friends help each other out." She said, as gentle as Rachel had ever heard her.

Rachel decided that this was probably the best time to ask. It obviously wasn't going to happen on its own, and she was too much of a coward right now to go up to Sue Sylvester alone.

"Quinn, would you do me a favor?" She asked hesitantly.

The Cheerio's hands paused in their work on Rachel's hair. "What exactly does this count as?" She joked, kneading the blue ice out of Rachel's hair. "What do you need?"

"Can you help me get onto the Cheerios?"

The blond's hands froze.


	2. Chapter 2

Quinn didn't answer for a while, making Rachel nervous. Finally, she spoke, and started once more on Rachel's hair.

"Are you sure?" She asked hesitatly.

If her head hadn't been half in a sink, she would have nodded vigerously. The real Rachel was coming back.

"I've never been so sure of anything. Not ever in my life." Okay, maybe she was exagerating a little bit. No harm in that.

"I'll help you." Quinn's voice was slightly unbelieving, as if she didn't know why she would help Rachel, she just knew that she would. "You'll have to try out tonight, it's the last night Sue's accepting anybody. And we'll have to get you some new clothes; these ones are stained blue." Quinn moved to throw the once-white t-shirt in the trash as Rachel sat up to put her hair into a high ponytail, so that it wouldn't get her bra wet.

"No!"

Quinn was startled, and looked at Rachel questioningly. The shirt was still hanging suspended from Quinn's hand, over the trash can.

"That's my favorite. I don't care if it's blue, I'll just dye the rest of it when I get home." Rachel defended her shirt with what felt like a pathetic reason for keeping a ruined shirt, but Quinn just shrugged and hung it over the stall wall.

"I'll just run and get some more work-out clothes for you. I have a pair in my locker." Quinn started for the door, before turning and laughing slightly. "Stay here."

Rachel nodded, and watched her leave. Never one to wallow in self-pity, she stood, and combed though her hair with her fingers, tugging loose the tangles that had somehow occurred whilest sitting perfectly still.

_Quinn's my friend? _

Rachel was puzzled. Just last year, it had been Quinn laughing at her when the was hit by a slushee. Now, she was getting Rachel some of her own clothes so that Rachel could get onto the Cheerios, something that Quinn has zealously guarded from Rachel, along with Finn.

Maybe it was because of Finn. Rachel had gotten over him in the summer, and while she still wanted to be his friend, she had no romantic motives towards him.

Rachel was interupted from her thoughts by Quinn coming back into the bathroom. She caught a pair of shorts and a tank top when Quinn threw them at her.

"Get dressed. Those pants will be seen as a threat to Sue; she doesn't like the Cheerios wearing pants around her. She thinks that we'll get more comfortable around her if we do." Quinn rolled her eyes, before gesturing impatiently to the stall.

Rachel hurried in, and pulled off her pants quickly, tossing her yoga pants up next to Puck's shirt and slipping into the surprisingly short, surprisingly comfortable spandex and pulling the tank top over her head. White tank top, red shorts. How fitting.

She emerged from the stall, and Quinn squinted at her. "I almost didn't think that they'd fit you; you wear such baggy sweaters all of the time, I thought that you were hiding something." She shrugged, and pulled down Rachel's almost-dry shirt and pants, folding them and stuffing them into an empty gym bag that matched Rachel's outfit. "You're lucky your white sneakers didn't get covered. That color never comes out of white leather."

Rachel nodded, excitement building. Quinn turned to her. It was like she was psychic.

"Don't get too excited." She warned. "Excitement irritates Sue. Show fear, don't talk that much."

Rachel took a deep breath and nodded, calming herself down easily. "Thank you for doing this Quinn. I really appreciate it."

She laughed. "You'd better."

And with that, they set off towards the gym.


	3. Chapter 3

"Do you think this is hard? Try living in Florida for more than six months. That's hard!" Coach Sue shouted through her megaphone.

Rachel knew what she was doing, trying to scare off the weaklings from tryouts. Luckily for her, Rachel was no such weakling. She was careful to stay within the group, as not to distance her from the other girls trying out before she was even on the team, but she could keep going for hours. Sue had made them run two miles already, following them in a golf cart screaming obsceneties at them. Rachel had thought that it was actually pretty fun, but she wouldn't tell anybody else that.

After the running, she had made sure that all of the girls could be flyers and bases, something not a lot of the girls could do. About half of them had run away crying at the thought of having to be thrown into the air, relying on girls they barely know to catch them. Rachel had trived on it. What's life without a little risk?

Now, they were doing a ridiculous excersize involving bicicles, fire, and a lot of trust. This was when Rachel started getting a little nervous. What if practice was like this all of the time? Sure, a little risk was fun, but she didn't want to die.

She glanced over at Quinn, who stood by the doors, leaning on the bleachers. Apperently, she looked as nervous as she felt, because the girl just gave her a thumbs-up and mouthed 'testing you'.

"STOP!" Coach Sue bellowed, not even bothering to turn on her microphone.

Rachel skid to a stop on her bicicle, just before she would have jumped through another fire ring.

"Holmes, Tanzer, Berry, drop the bikes and get over here!"  
Rachel threw herself off the bike and jogged quickly to the coach. She looked around, and found that she was one of the three girls left in tryouts. The rest of them must have decided this was a little too crazy for them.

Sue began to speak, drawing Rachel's attention to her like a beacon. "Alright listen up. You've made the team. Berry, I don't know how you did it, but I'll call it will of God and sum it up to divine intervention. "  
She didn't like it, but Rachel simply nodded.

"We have practice every day before and after school. You will wear your uniform to school. If you get so much as a smudge of something on your uniform, you will be off team. Is that clear?"  
"Yes Coach." The girls chorused, their excitement barely contained.

"Q!" Coach Sue called, and Quinn came running.

"Yes Coach?"

"Get the girls their uniforms and explain to them everything they need to know." Sue held her stomach. "I'm feeling a full afternoon coming on; I knew that I shouldn't have eaten those cafeteria tacos."  
"Yes Coach. Are the uniforms in your office?" Quinn asked sweetly.

"Don't ask stupid questions, Q. I won't have stupid people on my cheer team."

"Then why did she let Brittany on?" One of the other girls-Tanzer- whispered to Holmes, who giggled.

"Tanzer, Holmes, you're off the team. Stay out of my sight." Sue called over her shoulder, obviously angry.

The girls, Tanzer and Holmes, promptly burst into tears, running out of the exterior doors.

Quinn looked at Rachel, amused. "Don't talk badly about Sue's Cheerios, or you won't be one anymore." She started for the door. "Follow me, we have to get you a uniform." She called to Rachel, who sped up.

"Rule number one; Coach Sue is in charge. She is a higher authority to you than the President. If the President said to do one thing and Coach said to do another, do what Coach said without hesitation. She's usually looking out for our best interests. Tryouts were supposed to go on for another couple of hours, but Holmes missed a ramp and would have hit a fire ring if Coach hadn't called it." She turned to Rachel. "Are you getting all of this?"  
"Yes." Rachel's eyes were wide. Was Holmes really in that much danger?

Quinn continued. "Rule number two; Cheerios comes before all else. School, friends, boyfriend. Even family, sometimes. Most of the time. However, Sue does have a soft side. If something traumatic happens to you or your family, she'll let you out of a few practices. Rule number three; don't miss practice. Don't even be late. She'll skewer you. Rule number four, and the last rule;" She turned to Rachel for this one, looking her strait in the eye as they stood outside of Sue's empty office. "the Cheerios are now your sisters. Don't do anything to them that you wouldn't have done to you. We are family now, and Coach Sue expects us to act like it. That means that you can't do anything with another girl's boyfriend, you can't make fun of them. That's why the girls were kicked out so fast. Sue really is a mom at heart, and we're her kids. Don't let her down. Don't let us down. You'll sit with us at lunch now; don't worry, nobody will touch you. We can take petty jabs at each other every once in a while, but we always have each other's back. No matter what."

Rachel nodded. She really didn't know what to say. She'd never had a sister before, let alone a whole team of them. She had sat alone at lunch for years no. She processed the new information, and looked back at Quinn, beaming.

"I'm ready!" She sounded like a little kid.  
Quinn laughed, and ran inside the office to pull a uniform out from under the desk. "This one should fit you. Remember, wear it every day. Wash it every night. We have practice tomorrow morning, I'll come pick you up. We also have practice tomorrow after school, and it's a Friday so I'll drive you back to my place. Pack some pajamas in that work out bag, your spending the night with me, Britt, and Santana tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 4

Flip, flip, flip, flip.

Rachel spun in the air, counting the seconds before she would have to stop to be caught. 3, 2, 1. She righted herself, and thought light thoughts as she fell into the basket Quinn and Brit had made for her.

"Nice Berry!" Coach Sue called through the megaphone.

Rachel felt herself smiling, and pulled Brittany and Quinn in for an awkward hug that wasn't as awkward as it could have been.

"Go shower! You all stink like the dingos I used to house in my basement for fighting!"

Rachel laughed, and ran towards the showers. They had been at practice for two hours now, and she couldn't wait to see how everybody reacted to seeing her in a Cheerios uniform. She finished up quickly, and put her uniform on, tying her drying hair up into a tight ponytail at the top of her head. Santana joined her not long after, curling her hair once it had dried so that it looked like hers, Brits, and Quinns.

"So I hear we're all having a sleepover at Q's tonight." Santana tried to start conversation. "Yeah. I've got my pajamas and everything." Rachel said, excited.

Santana laughed deviously. "You won't be needing those." She said vaguely, and refused to say any more on the subject. "Your hair is done."

Rachel spun and looked in the mirror. She looked like she belonged in a Cheerio uniform. Her hair was perfect, her uniform fit perfectly. It was astounding.

"Thank you, Santana. While I realize-" She started, then was cut off by the other girl.

"Not one of your rants, Berry. I don't think I can handle it." She waved her hands in the air over-dramatically, showing that she was kidding.

"Rachel." She corrected her. "It's only fair; I've called you Santana since I met you."

"I'll call you whatever I want to call you, Rachel." Santana smirked before heading over to Brittany.

Quinn swayed over to Rachel. "It's your first walk as Cheerio." She said with a flourish in her step. "That means you have to do it alone. Watch the crowds. If you do it right, they part for you."

Rachel nodded, intent on her task. She'd seen other cheerleaders take this walk; it happened as if in slow motion. She checked her hair and uniform in the mirror one last time before heading out, chin held hight. The halls were packed by now, school was about to start. Quinn was right. Everybody parted around her, starting at her. Jacob Ben Israel had a glazed look on his face and drool leaking out of his mouth. Then Rachel Berry did something that she had never done before. She smirked at the people in the hall, some of whom had been her most dedicated tormenters. Then somebody snatched her arm and pulled her into a much emptier hallway.

Rachel took in a breath to scream, then looked up. She exhaled slowly.

"What do you want, Puckerman?" She asked, hostility clear in her voice.

He ignored her question. "What are you doing? Have you finally gone off the deep end?" He asked in an accusitory tone. "I mean, we all knew it would happen sometime, but we had bets. I said early 30's, Artie said high school. Artie won! Damn it!"

"Noah, what are you talking about?" She had been slightly irritated before, now she was downright angry.

"Stealing a Cheerio's uniform? That's grounds for execution, on Sue's authority!" He grimaced. "I'm sorry. I can't save you from this."

Now she was angry, and slightly hurt. "I didn't steal the uniform! I tried out and made the team!"

"Rachel!" Quinn jogged over, slightly frustrated herself. "Why aren't you doing your walk? It's tradition! You have to do the walk!"  
"I was trying! This moron dragged me over here and accused me of going off the deep end and stealing a uniform!" Rachel pointed to Puck, who was standing with a shocked look on his face.

"Puck!" Quinn scolded. "You interupted her walk! And insulted a Cheerio! You're a target now, Puckerman. For all of us."

He scoffed, momentary surprise forgotten. "I think you've forgotten; I've slept with the majority of the Cheerios. Not all of them will turn against me."

"If the times you slept with them was like the time you slept with me, it'll be easier than I thought to get them to casterate you." Quinn smiled innocently at Puck, then turned to Rachel. "Come on. You have to finish your walk. Unfortunately, we'll have to do it together-we're going to the same class."

Quinn turned, and Rachel felt herself being dragged by the wrist by the admittedly stronger girl.

She turned back to look at Puck one more time, and saw him walking in the other direction, shoulders up and head down.


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of her walk had gone well, people staring at her with envy and a lot of disbelief. Rachel could tell that a lot of them thought the same thing as Puck; that she had lost her marbles and stolen a unifrom. However, the looks turned to awe when she had started walking with Quinn, who was clad in her own red and white uniform.

The rest of the day was mediocre. People stared in the halls; the only difference was that now they did it with respect instead of mocking. She ate lunch with the Cheerios, like Quinn had told her to, and was shocked to learn that they didn't really gossip that much. There was the bored "Hey, did you hear about…" that every group had, but it was mostly about the girls themselves. They talked about their hair and other silly stuff, but they also offered support to the girl who's parents were getting a rough divorce, and consoled the girl who's boyfriend had dumped her for somebody on the soccer team.

Afternoon practice had been brutal. They had gone until seven thirty, and had only stopped then because Sue had to film a Sue's Corner segment, which they were required to watch. Brittany told her absently that the practices frequently went until eight or nine, and it wasn't uncommon to have one until ten at night.

Brittany had then squealed, surprising Rachel and summoning Santana and Quinn over.

"What is it, Brit?" Santana asked absently. It's not as if Brittany was displaying any odd behavior, for her at least.

"Rachels sleeping over with us at Quinn's house!" Brittany said excitedly, hopping up and down quickly. "That means that we-"  
"Yes, she's sleeping over." Quinn cut in swiftly and smoothly, taking Brittany away from the other two girls speedily, and then appeared to lecture her.

Rachel turned to Santana. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean? You're spending the night, right?" Santana deflected. "We'd better get going. Q's going to want to get there soon, so we can all shower before we have any real fun." Her eyes lit up. "Quinn's house is huge. They have three bathrooms and a master bath, so we can all shower at the same time. Her mom's usually drunk, so she'll be out of the picture at about eight. Then we'll have free reign until we get bored and go to sleep."

"That sounds like a lot of fun." Rachel said with anticipation, but also with a good dose of trepidation. The way Quinn had pulled away Brittany made her wonder if she was really going to have any fun tonight at all, or if the fun would be at her expense. She shook her nervousness; the girls had said that they were sisters now. Sisters didn't do inexplicably mean things to each other.

After talking to Santana for another minute or so, they all walked to Quinn's car and piled in, Santana in the passenger's seat, with Brittany and Rachel in the back.

Rachel didn't mind being in the back. Actually, she almost prefered it. Her dads had gotten pulled over on multiple occasions for having a child in the front seat, as she was so short and police only got a couple second's view.

They chatted lightly in the car as Quinn drove up to an enormous house, classy and elegant, but monsterous in size. Rachel gaped at it for a minute before getting out of the car and heading inside with the other girls, pulling her white Cheerio jacket tightly around herself. It was much colder than she had thought it would be that morning.

They scurried inside, Santana and Brittany branching off in different directions to find the showers that the other brunette had told Rachel about. Quinn kept walking forward, and Rachel followed her, walking up a few flights of stairs and turning into a pristine bedroom that was obviously Quinns. There were cheerleading posters on the walls, which were painted a stark white. The bedspread was a dark red, darker than the uniforms they had on. The floor was a plush mocha-brown color, and was soft to step on.

"You'll be showering in there." Quinn pointed to a door that led into a private bathroom. "Feel free to use any soaps you find, but don't use my razor."  
Rachel nodded. "Thank you for letting me into your home." She said solomly, and smiled as she took off her socks and shoes.

A towel flew at her, hitting the side of her head. A startled laugh came from Quinn.

"I thought that you would catch that!" She snickered slightly before leaving, heading towards what Rachel could only assume was another bathroom, leaving her alone in the room.

She set towards the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her; a force of habit, not of worry. Rachel took a minute to take in everything from around her, gaping at what Quinn had.

Her bag on the floor, she stipped quickly and placed her folded uniform onto the counter before stepping into the shower. After reveling in the water for a brief moment, Rachel used the shampoo and conditioner that rested on a shelf on the side of the shower opposite to the showerhead. She squirted some of the shampoo into her hand, and was hit with the smell of pears. She quickly scrubbed her hair, using some of the matching conditioner as well. Scrubbing herself down with the body soap, Rachel determined that she was clean, and had used enough of the Fabray's hot water. She shut off the faucet and stepped out, quickly pulling her hair into a tight bun and drying herself off with the towel.

Her pajamas were in her bag, so she opened it up and threw on her worn-out shorts and blue slushee-stained shirt.

She stepped out of the bathroom, taking a deep breath of colder air after being in the steam for a while. Brittany was already there, lying on the bed with her hair wrapped in a hair turban. She was texting somebody, but threw her phone onto the bed behind her as soon as she saw Rachel.

"Hey!" She rolled off the bed and bounced over to Rachel enthusiastically. "I'm gonna do your nails." She insisted, shoving Rachel lightly towards a cushioned chair next to a window.

She sat down, and extended her hands.

"You can't look until I'm done!"

Rachel smiled, and made a show of looking anywhere but her nails. After a few seconds, she felt a cool liquid start on the tips of her fingers. She laid back and relaxed, waiting for Brit to finish her nails and the other girls to finish their showers.


	6. Chapter 6

"Santana, truth or dare?" Brittany asked cheerily.

"I don't want your dares, Brit. Truth." Santana rolled her eyes. Rachel could see why. Brittany always came up with weird dares, and bowing out wasn't allowed.

"If you had to choose between shampoo and conditioner, which one would you keep?" The blond asked airily.

Rachel smiled softly. It was nice to be included in something. They had been hanging out for a while, and had just started playing truth or dare.

"Shampoo." Santana answered easily. She turned and sneered. "Rachel, truth or dare?"

"Dare." There was no way she was going to be seen as a coward. There was no hesitation in her answer.

The three experienced Cheerios glanced at each other deviously. "I dare you to…" Santana began, in a tone that made Rachel very nervous. "…call up Puckerman and tell him that you want him, but that you don't want to get tied down with labels on a relationship."

Rachel's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. Brittany clapped, while Quinn looked indifferent.

"I can't do that!" She exclaimed. "I don't even like him!"

Santana rolled her eyes. "You don't have to like him." She said, exasperated. "You can even use my phone. After you tell him that, you just have to wait to see how he'll respond, then tell him it was a dare. He'll probably hang up after that."

Rachel was still uneasy. "Won't he get angry?"

Quinn looked at her and shrugged. "Why do you care? I thought you didn't like him."

Brittany gasped. "We should give her an alternate dare, and make her do something for us!" She sounded like she had rehearsed the sentence. Rachel just figured that she had thought about it a couple of times before thinking to say it aloud.

She jumped on the idea. "Yes! I like that much better."

Santana scowled at Brittany, but didn't seem to want to go against her, and nodded.

"Fine. Berry, you have to call somebody else and tell him the same thing. It has to be a guy that we all know, though."

Rachel nodded. "Blaine Anderson!" She remembered being with Brittany and Santana when they had met him at the coffee house. Blaine, Kurt, and herself were going out to coffee when they bumped into each other, and Quinn had to have met him somewhere.

"I've never met him." Quinn crushed her with one sentence.

Rachel pouted. "Fine. I'm calling Kurt."

The girls all groaned, but it was completely within the rules to call him.

She picked up Santana's phone, and dialed his number. Rachel put him on speakerphone, and held the device within the circle she and the other girls had created. He noticed by the third ring, and they leaned in eagerly to listen better.

"No, she'd dead. This is her son." Kurt said on the other end of the line.

"Uh…Kurt?" Rachel said timidly.

"Rachel? Why are you calling me at eleven? You know I need my beauty sleep. Who's phone are you calling from?"

"Um…Santanas. Kurt, I have to tell you something."

She heard him stop breathing on the other end. "Oh my God." He said finally. "Are you pregnant?"

Quinn covered her mouth to hold back a laugh, and Santana's mouth popped open, a look of pure glee in her eyes. Brittany actually seemed concerned, and looked over to Rachel, mouthing 'Are you'?

"No!" She practically shouted.

"Thank the heavens! Then what is it?"

"Actually, Kurt, I ummm…I want you but I don't want to put labels on our relationship."

Kurt was silent.

"Kurt?"

"Whose phone did you say you were using?" He asked, ignoring her question.

"Santanas."

"Am I correct to assume that this was a dare, and you asked me because I'm gay and wouldn't even consider taking you up on that?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Have fun ladies. Goodnight Rachel. Don't call me again after ten thirty unless you're pregnant, dead, or about to become one of those things." With that, he hung up on them, not waiting for a returned goodnight.

The girls sat for a minute, stunned, before bursting into laughter. Brittany leaned over to Rachel and rubbed her stomach for a minute, whispering 'Goodnight, baby.'.

"Britt, you know she's not pregnant, right?" Quinn asked.

"Then why would Kurt think that she is?" Brittany countered, caught up in her confusing logic.

"Because he knew something was up and that I would only call him this late if something was really wrong or I forgot how late it was."

Still with a puzzled look on her face, Brittany leaned back and laid her head on Santana's shoulder.

"I'm getting tired, too." Santana said.

"Same here." Quinn chimed in. They got up, Brittany and Santana heading for what looked like a dresser, and pulled down a bed. Quinn climbed into her own bed, and Rachel waited for somebody to tell her where to go.

"Come on stupid." Quinn gestured next to her on the bed. "Turn off the lights on your way up."

Rachel got up gracefully and flipped the light switch, using her cell phone as a light into Quinn's bed. She crawled under the covers and closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep. It was surprisingly easy, and soon she was out.


	7. Chapter 7

Rachel woke up suddenly, struggling against her sheets. Somehow, during the night, she must have wrapped herself up in them. She could barely move.

She opened her mouth to ask one of the other girls to help her get out of bed, then found that her mouth was already open. In fact, her mouth was stuck open, with some sort of gag winding its way around her head. Now that she was thinking about it, Rachel could feel the pressure of it on the back of her head.

Rachel opened her eyes, and was surprised to see a tree. Maybe she was looking out of Quinn's window?

No, that was definitely the bottom of the tree. The roots were everywhere, one even reaching the road. The road. The road that was in her line of sight. The road that she could see easily from where she was. Lying on the ground.

Mustering up muscle gained from her gymnastics, she did a sit up, flopping over so that she was leaned against a different tree.

Rachel thought that she knew what had happened. Either she had been kidnapped, changed into her Cheerio uniform, and dumped on the side of the road, (From what she knew of kidnapping, that was highly unlikely) or it was something much worse. Hazing.

She struggled against her bonds-which had turned out to be ropes- and found herself resigning to the fact that she would just have to stay here until some hopefully kind soul passed by in their car and helped her. Or murdered her, depending on who it was.

Rachel couldn't believe that they would just leave her like this. Tied up in a reveling skirt, unable to run or make any noise. She had thought that they were becoming friends. Maybe she had just thought wrong.

After what seemed like days, but was probably just a couple of hours, it was beginning to get brighter outside. She hopped to her feet, using the tree as a balance. Her arms were tied to her sides, so she couldn't wave to a car. Rachel decided that her best option was to bounce to the sidewalk and wait for somebody to stop.

During her short, treacherous journey, a truck rounded the corner, and started slowly down her road. Her eyes widened, and she started making terribly muffeled pleas for help. That failing, she pled with her eyes. It worked, and the truck stopped. She was too short to see who was driving, so she tried to hop to the driver's door.

Before she reached it, the door opened, and somebody she was equal parts grateful and confused to see driving around so early on a Saturday morning.

Noah Puckerman had just stepped out of the cab of the truck.

She was conflicted. On one hand, he had been fairly certain she had gone bat-shit crazy and stolen a Cheerios uniform. On the other she was tied up and gagged, wearing her cheerleading uniform. She decided to be happy.

Rachel jumped furiously towards him. He stepped back slightly, which actually hurt her feelings a bit. She stopped where she was and stood, eyes wide, watching him.

His eyes were wide too. "Rachel?" Puck questioned, obviously just as confused as she was.

She couldn't answer, so she settled for rolling her eyes and nodding.

Puck stared at her for another few seconds. "Hold on. I have to commit this to memory." He didn't blink, gaping at her.

Rachel was suddenly grateful that she was tied up, because if she hadn't been, she would have thrown a tantrum, foot stomping and all.

"Mmmm." She tried very hard to enunciate, but having proper pronunciation was extremely difficult with a gag in your mouth. Rachel tried again. "Mmm, mmmMMM!" This wasn't working.

Puck shook his head. "What?" Just after he spoke, he seemed to realize that she couldn't answer. "Oh, sorry!"

He meandered around her, pulling her hair to one side so that he could untie the cloth that stretched around her head. He succeeded, and she pucked it out with her tongue, moistening her teeth and lips quickly. She took in a deep breath from her mouth, accidently tugging on her other ropes.

"Thank you." She said, and Puck stood behind her, working on the other knots.

"Why are you tied up?" He didn't waste any time asking. "If I had known you were into this sort of thing, we would have dated for much longer."

"Noah!" She scolded, not letting her mind travel where he had hinted. "I'm not into…that! I fell asleep at Quinn's last night, and I woke up here! I assume that they're hazing me, although I thought that was only for sororities and fraternities."

Rachel heard him snicker, then the ropes around her fell loose. She sighed, and stretched her arms. He walked around her, and, without asking, she used him as a balance for her standing splits. She really needed to stretch.

"Damn, you got hazed?" He laughed, so she slapped his stomach lightly. "That's awesome."

"I hardly think so!" She had little conviction in her voice. Rachel thought it was actually funny. "Anyway, what are you doing out here so early?"

He grinned, and pulled out his phone. "Santana texted me and told me that there was a little present for me out here. I had hoped that she, Quinn, and Brittany had finally decided to take me up on my offer of a fourway, but this is good too."


	8. Chapter 8

Rachel was laughing. Not a giggle, which might be construed at cute. No, she was full out laughing. Her shoulders were shaking, her face was red, every once in a while she would make a totally embarrassing snorting noise and cover her mouth, not breathing until she calmed down or nearly passed out, which happened a few times.

Puck was laughing too, but his was more of a chortle. He had told a really stupid joke on their way to Breadstix for breakfast, and Rachel had busted up. She knew that he was probably laughing at her laugh, but she didn't care. It had been too long since she had reason to completely laugh with abandon.

She had calmed down some by the time they reached the restraunt's parking lot, but still giggled every few minutes when she thought about the joke.

Puck had been a true gentleman, even opening her door for her when she couldn't get the handle to work, and helping her out of the car. He hadn't been completely gentlemanly, and had grabbed her butt on the way down. Rachel had squeaked, but hadn't told him to stop.

They walked inside hand-in-hand and sat down across from each other at a booth. Their waitress glared at Rachel and her Cheerios uniform before turning to Puck to take their order. The woman –who's name tag labeled her as Bindi- refused to even look at Rachel when she ordered a vegan, kosher breakfast and a water.

Puck smirked at her.

"She liked me more than she liked you." He was taunting her, and sang his sentence in a mocking way.

Rachel copied his song. "She wanted to get into your pants."

Puck's mouth widened in an overexagerated gasp of shock. "Rachel Barbara Berry!" He scolded. "I would never have meaningless sex with a woman I barely know! Do you really think so low of me?" He placed a hand over his heart in joking pain.

"Yes."

"Ouch. I guess I know where I stand on your scale of respectable men." He frowned, eyes wide. "At the bottom."

Rachel couldn't help it, and laughed. "Actually, you're in second place."

"I can't believe it. Do you actually have a list?"

She nodded.

"Who's in front of me? Finn?" He grimaced at the name, and she followed suit.

"What? No. He's in fifth." She smiled. "Why should I tell you who's in first place?"

Puck snickered. "I'll make it well worth your while." He said suggestivly, puckering his lips and closing his eyes.

"Let me think…no." She said, harshly.

"I'll sing a duet with you in Glee club." He nodded, agreeing with himself. "That should earn me the name."

She sighed, and knew that he wasn't going to give up. "Fine. Mr. Schuester is at the top of the list. He's beating all of you guys by miles, too. Then there's you, Artie, Mike, then Finn. It all just goes downhill from there."

"Artie? Haven't you heard him talk about Santana's boob job?"

"Unfortunately, yes. But I've also heard Mike talk about Tina, and even Artie is preferable. Finn's just a jerk without realizing it."

Puck smiled again; it was almost becoming eerie. Rachel hadn't seen him smile that much for ages, and it honestly made her a bit uncomfortable. Luckily, their food got there.

They mowed down it, and the food was amazing.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm really sorry you guys. I'm having a lot of trouble writing this story, and I'll keep trying, but I don't have a clue where it's going. I know that this is a short chapter and I'll make it up to you. Visible will be finished, but as of right not I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do it. There's currently no endgame in mind, and the writer's block her is dramatic. I'm going to take a short break to work on Something Better, because I have a plan for that one, then I'll come back and finish Visible.**

* * *

Rachel stormed into the locker room after morning practice that Monday, eyes fiery and ponytail flipping behind her. She stopped in front of Santana, who started laughing when she saw her.

Grabbing the girl's arm, Rachel tugged her over to where Brittany and Quinn were seated, doing each other's makeup and giggling.

"What do you think you were doing?' Rachel let go of Santana and crossed her arms, tapping her foot as she waited for an answer.

"That you sleep like the dead." Quinn rolled her eyes. "We thought that you would at least put up a fight. You didn't even notice when we tied you up!" Brittany giggled at the memory. "You would be an awesome target for a kidnapper."

"You left me on the side of the road! And put me in my Cheerios uniform!" She was gesturing wildly around the room. "What if some creep had found me?"

"Oh, relax Berry." Santana said, as she joined the other girls, sitting on the floor and helping Quinn with Brittany's makeup. "We didn't just leaver you there. If you had looked around, you would have seen Quinn's car. It was just on the other side of the strip you were on. We waited until Puckerman was there, and then we left."

Brittany, who had her eyes closed so that Santana could put some eyeshadow on her, was suddenly serious. "We did have to scare off a few men though. Santana went Lima Heights Adjacent. You were lucky to be asleep."

Rachel couldn't do anything but stare at them. "So…you didn't just leave?"

"Of course not, stupid." Quinn stood up and pulled Rachel over to the ground by the other girls and started on her makeup. "We're your friends. We'd never just leave you somewhere."

Santana looked offended. "What do you think we are? All we were doing was pulling a prank. You got the easy end of the stick too. When I joined the team, Quinn and Brittany dragged me into the mall and got me into the top of the jungle gym somehow. I was stuck in there for hours, until the creepy elves from the mall Santa came to help me out."

Quinn laughed. "They were the ones who helped us get you up there." She turned to Rachel. "We had to drug Santana. I crushed up a couple sleeping pills and mixed them into her nightly cup of decaf coffee."

She was shocked. They did this with every girl, and they hadn't just abandoned her like she had thought.

"Why did you call Noah?"

"Because you have a crush on him." Brittany said simply, then started on Santana's makeup.

"Almost done…" Quinn flicked a mascara brush one more time, then moved the cosmetics bag to Rachel. "My turn!"

She started with eyeshadow.

"I don't have a crush on Noah!" Rachel protested vehemently.

Santana snorted. "Right, and I'm a virgin."

"I don't!" Rachel insisted. "He's a lovely boy, and we go to Temple together. That's all."

"Lovely?" Quinn smirked. "Not exactly my first choice of words to describe Puck. I doubt he'd appreciate being called 'lovely'. Especially since he likes you too."

"He doesn't like me."

"Are you seriously that blind?" Santana chimed in. "I tried booty calling him once on a Saturday. He turned me down because he wanted to sleep in. It was two in the afternoon."

"He got up early because he thought that you were all going to have a foursome with him."

"No he didn't." Brittany frowned. "Santana texted him and said that there was a little present waiting for him, and that there was even a Berry on top. She capitalized berry, so he knew that it was you."

"He didn't tell you that?" Quinn asked as she puckered her lips for pink-tinted chapstick.

Rachel shook her head.

"I thought that he still liked you, Santana."

The girl in question snorted. "He never liked me. I'm just easy."

Rachel pondered over this, and the girls made idle chit-chat until they were done with primping, and headed out to class. She kept her eyes peeled, but Puck was nowhere to be found.


	10. Chapter 10

"Rachel?" A voice said sloppily, the quality of her phone making the voice sound almost robotic.

"Hello?" Rachel rubbed her eyes sleepily, checking the clock on her bedside table. Who was calling at two in the morning?

"Rach, it's Puck."

She sat up straight, her sheets pooling around her. "Noah?"

"No…Noah…Puck." He slurred, then laughed.

She turned and slid her feet into a pair of slippers, keeping the phone pressed to her ear as the pulled on her robe.

"Noah, are you drunk?"

He was silent, and Rachel almost asked him again before he answered. "I think. I might be. Maybe a little. Where am I?"

She grabbed her car keys and headed quietly down the stairs before walking into her garage and hopping into the driver's seat of the car.

"Can you see any street signs?" She asked, keeping calm. Rachel started driving towards Santana's house; she knew that the other girl was going to throw a party that night, but she hadn't wanted to go. There had been practice after school for both Cheerios and Glee, and she had homework for all of her five AP classes.

"Yes." He giggled, and Rachel felt herself getting frustrated.

"Would you please tell me which ones?"

"Yes." She grit her teeth, but he continued. "One says Kalaidascope, and one says 56."

Due to his level of inebration, he butchered the pronunciation of Kalaidasope, but it didn't matter. Rachel wasn't far away, and she was pushing the speed limits to get to him.

When she spotted him, Rachel pulled over and got out of the car quickly. Puck wasn't wearing a shirt, and there was a half-full beer bottle in his hand.

He opened his arms happily. "Rachel!"

"Hi Noah." She reached around him and took the bottle, pouring the remainder of the liquid into a shrub, to his protests. Setting the bottle down, she took his hand and led him to the passenger's seat of her car, helping him into it and buckling him in, locking the door behind her.

Once she was in the driver's seat, she was fuming. How dare he just get drunk and wander around the town at night, then call her as soon as he needed a ride?Granted, she was glad that he had called her instead of getting into a drunken person's car, or driving himself.

"Rachel, Rach. Berryberryberry." He said, then smiled. He was much more drunk that he had let on.

"That's me, Noah."

He mush have sensed her frustration, because he leaned into her and laid his head on her shoulder. "Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad."

He pinched her sleeve lightly. "Don't lie."

Soon, they had reached her house, and she helped him out of the car again.

"Why are we at your house?" Puck practically shouted, and she clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up!" She hissed, and led him into the bathroom. "My dads can't know you're here!"

Puck nodded solemnly.

"Why are we in your bathroom?" He whispered, and she surpressed a smile.

"Because I can't take you home, you're drunk out of your mind and that would be a bad influence to your sister."

"But why your bathroom?"

"Because you smell like booze and I hate that smell. Take a shower." She ordered, then stood with her arms crossed.

"With you?" He looked shocked, the spread his arms again. "Yay!"

She smacked his arm down. "No, stupid." He looked put out. "I'm staying here so that you won't die if you fall or something."

Rachel sat on the toilet facing the wall, away from Puck. She heard the water start after a few jumbled curses, and got hit in the face by his pants.

"Hey!" She said indignantly.

"Sorry."

He didn't sound sorry.

She turned again, so that she was leaning on the wall and sitting on the toilet instead. It was getting steamy in the bathroom, so she shed her robe. Puck peaked his head out of the curtain, his head dripping.

"Can you come over here?" He was working the puppy dog eyes, and Rachel sighed, walking over instead of arguing with him.

Before she knew what was happening, she was pulled into the shower. Water rained down on her head as she huffed at Puck, glaring. She was careful to only look above his neck.

He seemed to have sobered up speedily, and there was a smirk firmly planted on his face.

"Why did you do that! Now I'm all wet!" She whisper-cried.

"For fun." He shrugged, the rolled his eyes. "Relax babe. I'm wearing my boxers."

She checked carefully by laying her hand on his hip, and was infinitely happy when she felt an elastic band.

"Why are you wearing boxers in the shower?"

"Why?" His eyes were mischevious. "Do you want me to take them off?"

He moved as if to strip, but she grabbed his wrists, preventing such an occurance. Her face burned.

"No!" She shook her head, and started to leave the shower when she dropped his arms.

He grabbed her arm and tugged, and Rachel would have fallen had it not been for him slamming her body into his and kissing her.

Her mind was blank with surprise, and her eyes were wide open. Then, as she realized what had just happened, she closed them and returned the kiss, pressing against him. He tasted like beer and spearmint, which was surprisingly pleasant. Puck grinned into their kiss, and moved his hands so that one was on her thigh, the other cupping the back of her neck.

She jumped, wrapping her legs around him, and he pressed her against the cold wall to keep his balance. Rachel squealed, and arched her back to get away from the icy tile, unintentionally rolling against him.

Puck growled, pressing against her harder, moving the hand that was on her thigh to her stomach, sliding under her soaked white tank top. His other hand took her wrists easily and pressed them above her head. She tugged on them, and nipped his lip, but he ignored her protests. His thumb rubbed circles just underneath the wire of her bra, and Rachel moaned, leaning her head back, giving him access to her neck. Her eyes fluttered as he made his way to the point where her neck and shoulder met and started to suck.

Rachel's eyes flew open when there was a knocking on the door. Puck seemed startled too, but restarted his work after only a moment.

"Rachel, baby?" Her daddy called out. "Are you okay?"

"Yes Daddy." She struggled to keep her voice even, what with the magic that Noah was working with his tongue. "I just had a bad dream and decided to take a shower."

"Okay sweetie. I'll talk to you in the morning. I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy." She heard him walk away, then tapped on Puck's shoulder.

"Noah, stop." Immediately, he lifted his head, and put her down carefully.

"Sorry." He started to close himself off. Panicked, Rachel pulled his face down again and kissed him once lightly.

"My dads won't be happy if they find you, and I'm not exactly quiet." She flashed him a smile as his jaw dropped.

"We should go to my room: you can stay here tonight." She stepped out of the shower. "Stay there for a minute so I can put on my robe.

Exasperated at her soaked state, Rachel tugged off her dripping tank top and shorts, then slid out of her bra and underwear, placing them in the hamper, then slipping into her robe.

"Okay, come out."

Rachel had momentarily forgotten that he was only wearing his boxers, and they did nothing to hide what was underneath when wet. She tossed him his pants and turned around as he changed.

"Okay, I'm decent."

Looking at him, clad only in a pair of dirty jeans, she noted that he was the opposite of decent, and still incredibly sexy.

"Follow me, and be silent."

She stepped out of the steamy bathroom, shocked shortly by the cold air, and tiptoed into her bedroom. Once she got there, she tucked herself under the covers while Puck stood awkwardly by the closed door.

"Aren't you coming?" She asked coyly, then supressed a giggle when he hurried over and slid under the covers next to her.

"Goodnight Noah."

"Night Rach."


	11. Chapter 11

"Rachel?" There was a poking at her face to accompanie the word. She groaned.

"What?"

"Damn. Only make that noise again when you're absolutely sure you want me, cause that was hot."

"What do you want Noah?" She peeled back the skin of her eyelids and glared at him.

He shrugged. "I woke up."

"Why aren't you hungover or something?" She rolled to face him. "You were so drunk I had to go get you last night."

"I have a gift." He grinned, and his eyes slid over her. "As much as I enjoy the view, you might want to change into something that doesn't just tie shut."

Rachel glanced down at herself and noticed that she was still in her robe, and the front was falling open, very nearly exposing her naked chest.

She tugged the blankets up over her body, and carried them with her to her closet, stepping inside and shutting the door so that she could change.

Rachel hummed as she put on a pair of shorts and an old t-shirt. Her hair had dried on its own last night, and was a curly mess. Suddenly grateful that she kept a hairbrush and mirror in her walk-in closet, she set to work tugging the knots out until her hair fell in ringlets down her back.

She stepped out, and saw Puck still laying on her bed, waiting for her.

"Come on. I'm hungry." She motioned for him to follow her, and set towards the kitchen. Her dads were at work by now, so they had the house to themselves.

"Grab what you want." Rachel jumped. "Hey!"

Puck was laughing as he grabbed her butt on his way to the fridge. "Hey yourself. You said to grab what I want, and I did."

She rolled her eyes and took a bite out of her apple.

"Rach, can we talk?" Puck said around a mouthful of still-frozen waffle.

Her heart started beating faster. "Uh, sure?"

"Do you want to go out with me?"

She hesitated for a minute. Was that all? "Yes, I would."

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**A/N-Okay, I'm apologizing. I have lost my inspiration for the story for now. I'm sure it will be awakened soon, but for now I'm uploading this craptastic excuse for a chapter so that you have a BIT of closure. **


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